


Meet The Wilsons

by Huntress79



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Christmas, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, Holiday Season, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23970634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: The holiday season is fast approaching, and once again, Sam Wilson, Psychology teacher at Shield High, dreads driving down to Washington to meet up with the rest of his family, since he still hasn’t a significant other to parade around. But he just can’t accept the offer he got from new colleague James Barnes, can he?
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov (background), James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark (background)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: Id Pro Quo 2020





	Meet The Wilsons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [reeby10](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reeby10/gifts).



> written for IdProQuo 2020 and reeby10. Set in a non-power AU where most of the Avengers work at Shield High School in New York. Enjoy! I have full intent to write a second part, where they actually meet the rest of the WIlson clan (of course with more shenaningans XD)

*********************

_Mid-November_

Entering the main building of Shield High, Sam Wilson couldn’t suppress a full body shudder.

Outside, the first major cold wave from the North was hitting the city with full force, giving everyone a first taste of what might become a new normal for the area in a few weeks.

“That bad, huh?” Phil Coulson, principal of the school, called out from the main stairway.

“You’re lucky we all get paid so well,” Sam quipped while coming up to the other man. “Otherwise, we all would look for jobs further down South.”

“Lucky us, then,” Phil gave back, a smile spreading on his face. “You have a minute, Wilson, before you head to your first class? With Maria going on maternity leave in December, there’s some things that needs to be addressed, in terms of organization. Besides, I want you to meet her temporary replacement, as well.”

“Sure, man, just let me drop my bag in my office,” Sam replied, lifting the strap of his shoulder bag for emphasis. “Main conference room, right?”

“Yep, see you there, Wilson,” Coulson called over his shoulder, already halfway down one of the many hallways. With a chuckle, Sam turned into another one, wondering if the principal ever stopped to worry about the school at all.

*********************

Half an hour later, Sam was back in his office. Sharon, Maria Rambeau’s replacement until the other woman was back from maternity leave, was nice, but if Sam was honest, a bit bland. Apparently, she was related to former school principal Peggy Carter, but she had a long way ahead of her if she ever wanted to be half as awesome as her relative.

The ringing of his mobile jolted Sam from his thoughts, and it took a hot moment or two to remember where he had put it in the morning. But at long last, he located in the small bag that was halfway down the shoulder strap - only to utter a groan when he read the name flashing on the screen.

“Hi, mom,” he finally spoke into the receiver, steeling himself for what was definitely coming up in their conversation in no time.

“Good morning, my boy,” his mom replied, sounding way too chipper for this time of the day. Knowing from experience where this was ending, Sam sat down at his desk.

“What’s up, mom? Everyone okay?”

“Why does everyone thinks something has happened when they get a call from their family?” his mother asked. “Can’t a mother call her children just for the sake of having a talk with them?”

“Sure you can, but mom, you know that we all have jobs to do, right?”

“Ya, ya, I hear you, Samuel. You and your sisters as well all have taken after their dad, so it seems. Always so busy, as if there’s nothing more important in the world than money.”

“Now, mom, that’s not quite true…,” Sam began, only to realize belatedly that he was backing himself up into a corner with that phrase.

“I know, Sam, especially for your sisters, who all have steady relationships, despite their jobs.”

“Oh,” was all that Sam could give as a reply. Dang it. You would think after all those years, he would be better at NOT falling into this kind of traps.

“Yeah, oh,” his mother gave back, joy evidently lacing her voice. “Unless you already have found a nice girl and you’ve just forgotten to introduce her to us.”

Out in the hallway, the school bell rang, and probably for the first time in his whole academic career so far, Sam was eternally grateful for hearing that specific sound.

“Look, mom, I gotta go, class is about to start. And I don’t wanna be that kind of teacher and be a bad example to those kids. I’m gonna give you a call in the evening, and I promise you can grill me about my love life to your heart’s content. Love you!”

Mrs. Wilson barely had time to reply with an “I love you too” before Sam hung up on her before taking a deep breath.

“What the heck was that, Wilson?”

The deep timbre of James “Bucky” Barnes coming from the doorway had Sam twist around, if only to give the other man a glare.

“What are you doing in my doorway, Barnes?” Sam fired back.

“Hey, man, take it easy,” Bucky replied, hands raised in surrender. “Just came by to ask if you’re still up for quiz night on Wednesday. Nat and I could use that brain of yours, if we ever want to win against Steve, Tony and Scott.”

“Sure, man, and sorry for almost biting your head off,” Sam said, chagrined. “Clint’s bar, right?”

“Yep, ‘The Golden Eye’ is it, and no problem about the other thing,” Bucky gave back with a smile. “But I still want an answer to my initial question - what was that, Sam?”

Sam heaved a sigh while gathering the last of the papers necessary for his first class of the day.

“My mom called, which she does all the time, but once in a while,” he joined Bucky at the door, and together, they headed down the hallway to their respective classrooms, “she starts comparing me, and my life choices in general, with those of my sisters.”

“So, what was it this time?” Bucky asked.

“Her favorite theme - my love life, or better the lack of one, at least in her opinion.”

“Oh man, I totally get you for using a white lie to her. My mom’s pretty much the same, though she backed off a bit after my last relationship ended in a monumental disaster.”

“Was that before you moved back here to New York? Steve has mentioned something, but I honestly didn’t pay too much attention to it.”

“That’s okay, Sam, at that time I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go back to being a full-time teacher. And yeah, that was the reason why I left Washington in the first place. Besides, New York’s more my kind of town than Washington ever could be.”

“Good to hear, man, though I gotta have to protest a bit.”

“Why?” Bucky asked, his eyes going large.

“You know where I’m from, right?”

“Oh shoot,” Bucky exclaimed, causing some of the pupils in the hallway giving them a strange look, “I’m sorry, man, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Nah, it’s okay, but you’re buying the first round on Wednesday, just for that.”

Before Bucky could come up with any kind of reply, Sam was in his classroom, a smile on his face.

*********************

Wednesday rolled around, and while work was, for once, without any impending apocalypses of the teenager kind or other catastrophes typical for a high school, Sam couldn’t help but gnaw on his mom’s words.

If he was honest, there was a hidden truth in them. And being a successful and, most of all, beloved teacher in a prestigious high school wasn’t a valid excuse for being single. Sure, there was nothing that spoke against being single these days, but deep down, Sam knew that he wanted to have a relationship again, some day.

His last one with Riley, an ex-Army ranger and firefighter, went, ironically, all up in flames when the other man was one of the casualties of a warehouse fire down at the docks that killed several firefighters.

At first, Sam felt as if he was cheating on Riley, or on his feelings for him, if he would go out and find a new partner. Which was, of course, stupid in hindsight, but by the time he realized that, almost two years had gone by.

“Mr. Wilson?” a soft voice spoke up, and Sam realized with a start that he was daydreaming, and not grading his students’ recent homework.

Giving himself a shake, Sam finally turned to the owner of the voice, which turned out to be Wanda Maximoff, one of his favorite students. For a girl her age, she had quite deep insights into some topics they were tackling this year, and Sam was always looking forward to what she would have to say about it.

“Wanda? Everything’s okay?”

“You know, I could ask you the same,” she replied with a smile. “But yeah, everything’s fine. Unless my dear brother has been up to something, again, and I just haven’t heard about it yet.”

They both shared a smile at her mentioning Pietro, her twin brother. Which made it even more hilarious to everyone that they were quite opposites. Wanda was introverted, kept things to herself, and also stayed out of trouble most of the time. Pietro, on the other hand, was the school’s troublemaker No. 1, his mind running a mile a minute with new ideas how to give one teacher or another a heart attack.

“Haven’t heard anything as well,” Sam replied, “so I go out on a limb and say he stayed out of trouble for today.”

“Thank the heavens,” Wanda exclaimed before turning visibly sober. “When I saw you sitting here, you were lost in your thoughts, Mr. Wilson. Anything you wanna talk about?”

“No. Thank you, Wanda, for your concern, but there’s nothing, at least nothing you should worry your clever head about. Just some ‘grown-up’ problems that you hopefully never will have to deal with.”

“If you say so,” Wanda gave back with a raised eyebrow. “I just want to give something back, for all the things you and everyone here in this school did for us when Pietro and I came to the USA, and subsequently to this place.”

“And you both do it, Wanda. Sure, Pietro’s method leaves a lot to desire, but you just blow us all away with your intelligence. I, for one, usually marvel at how quick you can grasp the concept of something, way faster than any of your classmates.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wilson. “ She cast a glance at the homework sheets spread on Sam’s desk. “Well then, I should let you get back to grading them.” And with that, the redhead was out of the room.

*********************

“The Golden Eye” was packed when Sam finally got there. Nick Fury, Riley’s former chief at the station, had dropped by for a visit earlier, reminiscing with Sam about Riley, and inviting Sam to a memorial for those lost that day, since the fifth anniversary of that tragic event was just around the corner.

Sam didn’t agree to participate right away, but he gave the other man apparently a good enough answer that Fury left without pressing for more. Once the man was gone, Sam lost himself for some time in looking through their photo album, wondering again and again how fast time went by.

“Hey, Sam, nice that you could make it.”

If anyone saw Steve Rogers on the street, one would have guessed he either was a model, or a football player. While both things were quite good assumptions on their own, they didn’t even came close to what Steve really did for a living - teaching Art and Art History at Shield High.

“Yeah, sorry for that, had a visitor, and subsequently a little throwback to the past.”

“You’re okay?”

Tony Stark, Steve’s husband and teacher for Engineering at the school, joined in, giving Sam a once-over with his brown eyes.

“Yeah, and I’m gonna show you how okay when me and my teammates beat yours this time.”

“Sure, whatever gets you through the night,” Tony quipped back with a wink. Their quiz nights at Clint’s bar were a regular event, and while it was always for a good cause (with the other guests chipping in as well), they always managed to keep it professional and in a civilized manner.

“Hey guys,” Natasha cut in, coming up at Sam’s side. Usually, Nat was a teacher as well, but right now, she was on maternity leave, having given birth to an over-the-top adorable baby girl just two months ago.

“Hey, Nat, how’s that little diamond of yours and Barton?” Tony asked.

“Lila’s doing absolutely fine, Tony, thanks for asking,” Clint called out from the bar, and not for the first time, Sam wondered about the man’s apparent ability to pick up conversations even a few feet away from him that easily. “What can I get you, Wilson? The usual?” Clint turned to Sam.

“Yeah, sure.”

*********************

By the time they were halfway through the questions, Sam was getting desperate. No matter what he, Nat and Bucky tried to do, the other team always was a tad quicker with answering. The scoreboard spoke a clear language.

“Aw, man, looks like we’re losing, again,” Bucky exclaimed with a grouse while sliding into the booth next to Sam.

“Yeah, really looks like that,” Sam gave back, fiddling with the corner of the label on his beer bottle.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Bucky spoke up.

“Depends on what kind of personal question it is,” Sam replied. “I’m definitely not giving you any sex tips, that’s for sure.”

Bucky let out a guffaw, drawing some looks from the other patrons.

“Thank you, Sam, but I think I’m good, at least in that department,” he continued, his pale blue-grey eyes sparkling with joy.

“Okay, shoot.”

“What are you doing over Christmas? You’re still intent on going down to Washington and see the family?”

“Yup. Why you’re asking? You wanna tag along?”

It was just a rhetorical question, after all. Sure Bucky was just yanking his chain a little bit.

“What if I say yes, I wanna tag along. And be your fake boyfriend to pull your mom from your back, even for just a while?” Bucky replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you… are you nuts, Barnes?” Sam exclaimed. Apparently, the other man really was crazy. “Sure, we’re colleagues, but apart from that, there’s nothing we have in common, as far as I know.”

The man in question heaved a sigh before taking a sip from his own bottle, causing Sam’s eyes to make the mistake of focusing on the way his adam’s apple bobbed and the muscles in his throat worked around the liquid.

“No, I’m not nuts, but I know from own experience how hard it is having your mother breathing down your neck about you lacking a partner. Therefore, I thought I could offer my services, so to speak, and help you having a bit of a break. But if you don’t want my help…,” he trailed off.

“Never said that, Bucky, it’s just…,” Sam began to reply, only to get stuck.

“Just what?”

“For starters, we all stay at my mom’s place. And while there’s hopefully space enough for everyone, it’s still rather close quarters.”

“And? I grew up with four sisters, my parents, an aunt and my grandparents living in one house,” Bucky gave back before letting out a chuckle. “By the time my sister were hitting puberty, my mom came up with a schedule every general would be envious of. There was an exact length of time you were allowed to spend in the only bathroom in the house, with no excuses whatsoever.”

“Oh man, that’s hard.”

“Nah, not so much for me, but my sisters were regularly bitching about it when I dropped them off at school.”

“You’re the oldest of the lot?”

“Yup,” Bucky replied with a nod.

*********************

_December 20th_

Sooner than Sam would have preferred it, Winter Break was upon them, and with it him packing up things and getting ready to head down to Washington for the annual Wilson Christmas festivities. Though this time, he wouldn’t have to go alone.

Surprising himself, Sam had agreed to Bucky’s offer, and subsequently, the two men spent more time together, be it at work or outside of it.

And try as he might, Sam wouldn’t rule it out to really fall for the other man.

Bucky was not only gorgeous, he also was downright hilarious, with a streak of humor that was drier than any of the deserts on this planet together.

Besides, Bucky was, like Sam himself, a former member of the US military, having done two tours to Afghanistan before an injury put an end to this part of his life. He knew his way around any type of vintage motorbikes, had one of his own that had Sam swooning when Bucky showed it to him, and if that wasn’t already enough, he also was an excellent cook.

Mama Wilson was gonna be wrapped around Bucky’s little finger in no time.

*********************

The End

*********************


End file.
